The moment. The icon. The spotlight: chicken tenders have made their comeback.
From a treasured childhood food, to being the star on your favorite restaurant menus, the reign of chicken tenders hasn’t stopped yet but definitely needs to be studied.
If you haven’t noticed, chicken tenders have been taking over menus such as McDonald’s, Culvers and KFC, all rolling back to these original golden strips of meat.
According to The Wall Street Journal, chicken sales topped $53 billion in 2024, with chicken-based chains growing nearly 9% faster than beef-focused restaurants. It’s clear that crispy chicken is now the real goldmine of fast food.
So, what makes this food so attractive and what inspired this “chicken tender battle” between fast-food chains?
The first thing that makes chicken tenders such an attractive addition to restaurants is nostalgia. Chicken tenders have been a place of comfort among both children and adults with their simplicity, crispiness and flavor.
History teacher Jon Elfner explained the appeal of chicken tenders from a parental perspective: “When they were little, my kids loved chicken tenders. As a parent, when my kids were young, chicken tenders were easy to quickly pop into the microwave and eat.”
And it wasn’t just his kids, Elner mentioned. “I think my dog liked the tenders more than my children did.”
But that’s the magic. Chicken tenders are a childhood staple, simply memories served on a plate, beloved by kids, adults and even by pets.
Restaurants know this and cash in on the warm nostalgic feelings that come rushing back when you drive through the restaurant and see the picture of chicken tenders highlighted as the number one meal.
This makes chicken tenders an easy way for restaurants to profit off of consumerism.
Another allure of chicken tenders is that they are perfectly shaped to be “dippable.” Just ask social science teacher Brian ODonnell, who summed it up the best: “They’re a vehicle to put good sauce in your mouth.”
Take Raising Cane’s, for example. By focusing exclusively on crispy chicken fingers and their signature sauce, they’ve built a billion-dollar empire. Just this year, Inc. reported that Raising Cane’s saw a 33% increase in sales and reached $5.1 billion in revenue in 2024.
That says it all: chicken plus sauce equals profits.
Surprisingly, chicken tenders are a fairly new invention. About 50 years ago, chicken tenders simply didn’t exist.
The theory of the origin of chicken tenders points to New Hampshire, where a restaurant run by two Greek immigrants invented them after Charlie Pappas, one of the sons of the restaurant owners,”had a small piece of chicken he didn’t know what to do with,” New Hampshire Public Radio broadcast.
From there, they came up with a hit menu item, by dipping the extra tenderloins into pineapple juice, duck sauce, breading then frying it they managed to successfully create deep-fried chickeny goodness.
10 years later, Burger King adopted chicken tenders as a direct response to McDonald’s “Mcnuggets mania,” as named by the 1983 commercial which accurately describes the craze and popularity of McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
The McDonald’s campaign was such a success that Burger King saw profits drop by 40 percent by the end of 1986, according to Marketing Dive.
In order for Burger King to stay competitive, they added a new menu item. These strips were like a golden chicken tender-shaped halo to them.
Burger King released an ad in 1985 with their main line, “it is nothing like the real thing” being a direct comeback to McDonalds processed meat compared to the real chicken that chicken tenders is made up of.
This campaign worked a little too well, as Burger King products documentation stated, their tenders had become so popular that Burger King sites nationwide ran out and they had to pull the ad.
But that’s just history. Chicken tenders today aren’t only food, it is culture. It is a way to connect to friends, family and even pets. And an experience that must be had. Chicken tenders aren’t just surviving in 2025 they are thriving.
